Inside Scoop

Samsung Note 8 will try to win back burned Note 7 fans

The Galaxy Note 8 will be revealed on August 23. CNET Section Editor Jessica Dolcourt explains what Samsung needs to do to win back trust after the Note 7 saga.

3:32 / August 18, 2017

Transcript

Samsung is set to launch the Galaxy Note 8 at an event in New York City on August 23rd.
CNET section editor Jessica Dolcourt gives us the lowdown on what to expect from the Note 8 and what it can do to bring back customers after the Note 7 debacle.
[MUSIC]
So it said that the Galaxy Note 8 is gonna have a larger screen with possibly curved sides all around, a dual camera, that means a second camera lens on the back, and possibly a stylus that you can talk into so it takes a voice mode.
Those.
There are also rumors that there might be a pressure sensitive display that you can touch down on, sort of like on the iPhone.
And also, that the fingerprint sensor could be underneath the screen and that would be a big change because on the Galaxy S8 it's on the back of the phone, next to the camera and it's pretty inconvenient.
[MUSIC]
This phone is so important for Samsung.
The Galaxy Note 7 had this battery disaster.
Some units went up in flames, this was really bad.
Samsung had to recall millions of units, and it took the phone off the market.
So this is actually the first time in two years that loyal Samsung followers Have been able to buy a new Note device.
There are a ton of huge devices coming out this fall including the follow-up to the Google Pixel, the Apple iPhone 8, LG has got the V30 coming up.
It's just gonna be a really, really busy time for Android and Samsung has to prove itself.
It's gotta prove that the Note 8 can be safe.
It's gotta prove that it can be good.
It's gotta prove that be worth the money, especially vis a vis the competitors that are coming out.
[MUSIC]
It will be really interesting to see of this is the last that Samsung talks about the Note 7 disaster and if they go out of their way to address battery concerns, or if they'll kind of paper over it and just carry on.
But it;s possible that they'll emphasize, again, what happened, and what they're doing this time to make sure that the battery is safe.
And that could just be going over what the procedures were, what the findings were with the inquest.
We might also see a change to the battery, or they might tell us that they've gone ahead and changed to other manufacturing procedures.
In addition to the 8-point battery test that they already talked about.
I think it just makes good business sense for Samsung to reward these loyal followers who had to go through all the inconvenience.
And maybe the fear that their device might blow up.
[UNKNOWN] called and then come back to Samsung, and buy it's most premium device, and one that is really for power users.
[MUSIC]
So Samsung already does wireless charging and water resistance.
And it's expected that the iPhone 8 is going to have it too, and really, really narrow that gap between them.
Also, if the iPhone 8 manages to come out for the same price or a little bit less, you know, I think it's gonna be a tougher sell for Samsung to try to get people to want to buy a Note device with this extra S pen, if These people might be just as happy spending a little bit less for the Galaxy S8 or the Galaxy S8+.
So if the rumors are true, then the only difference pretty much between the Note 8 and the S8+ would be the S-Pen stylus and a second camera on the back unless any of those other features come into play too.
[MUSIC]
[BLANK_AUDIO]

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